Dark Christmas
by Funky In Fishnet
Summary: More of Raven's dark private Christmas. He & Molly reach New Years. Sequel to 'Come into the Darkness with Me.' RavenMolly.
1. Reunite

Disclaimer; own nothing. Enjoy and Merry Christmas  
  
He was always miserable at Christmas. It was a time for people who lived to be happy and indulge in society's pathetic commercialism. It wasn't for him. He had more on his mind than plastic ideas and soft gooey love. He had thinking to do. There was going to be a gathering of ECW cohorts that evening as a sort of celebration before Christmas, to reunite and catch up. He'd been debating not going but Molly had told him he should go.  
  
"You've missed them" she'd said "I'll go with you, these are your friends Raven, they've been with you since the beginning and I know you went through hell with Tommy but these are the ones who you can't forget or dismiss because they never forgot or dismissed you"  
  
He'd nodded slowly. He was Jewish so the 'real' meaning of Christmas meant nothing to him. It all meant nothing though he knew from the shadows that lifted from under Molly's eyes that it used to mean something to her, back when she was sunshine and cornflowers. He wondered if she still loved the snow and the sparkle.  
  
Now he found himself trudging through the streets with Molly by his side. They'd both changed a lot on the outside since that night up in the rafters when they'd merged souls. The darkness had consumed them even more. Her beauty had not changed though, in faded grey black jeans, a black shining leather jacket and some sort of red top on underneath. He had smiled his approval at it, she was wearing the colour of ECW; blood. Her hair had grown out the curls and now lay nearly at her shoulders, oak brown and soft and thick. He himself had changed since working for the NWA; his hair was shaved from his head, to cleanse himself of all the filth he felt. His blue jeans were cut off at the knees and he wore a black leather jacket over his bare chest. Two long marks of black marred his face, as though someone dragged a finger from below each eye to just above his chin leaving a trail behind each one.  
  
The snow was falling thick and fast. He remembered more of her words to him  
  
"Christmas has become fake and plastic to me as well Raven" she'd gently taken his hand in her's "but these people, they're your blood brothers and sisters, you can't ever brush them aside because they know your soul inside out, even better then me"  
  
"No!" he'd cut her off, almost violently "no one will ever know me better than you, no one"  
  
She was carrying a small package wrapped in silvery paper under arm. He could see a small silver ring shining on one finger of her hand. He'd given her that ring, a promise ring of eternal devotion. Marriage was for society, promises were forever. They'd managed their separate lives. He worked in NWA and she worked for the WWE still, she was champion now. He'd been so proud of her when she'd wrestled it off that shamelessly green rookie Gail Kim. She'd even had the presence of mind to take Gail into her conscience and train her, shape her and hone her into a proper female fighter. Like she'd done to Victoria before the beautiful misfit had crashed into millions of tiny pieces, her mind unmanageable.  
  
They reached the address. When Tazz had phoned Raven about the gathering, he'd hung up. Tazz had changed beyond recognition, wearing a suit, calling the action, whoring himself for money. Raven couldn't forgive him yet. Molly had been there and very calmly picked up the phone, called Tazz back and got all the details. Raven had hung about in shadowy corners, unsure of where he stood. These people had been his enemies, many of them he hated with every fibre of his being but that was a bond. It was stronger than he shared with most people. It was something.  
  
Molly turned back and smiled at him  
  
"Are you ready for this?"  
  
He answered by taking his hand and shaking his head.  
  
"Never am, never will be" he muttered to the snow "too much brokenness for anything good to happen"  
  
Molly reached up and rang the bell. There were slow footsteps and Tazz opened the door slowly, dressed all in raggedy black. Raven let out a sigh. If Tazz had come to the door in his suit, the same suit he wore when he was whoring himself to the WWE as a commentator, he would have turned around and walked away. Molly smiled a practiced smile, it made Raven wince  
  
"Raven" Tazz said, his tough Brooklyn accent colouring even the smallest of words "and Molly, come in, people are here already"  
  
Molly moved in first, followed by Raven. Tazz closed the door and locked it behind them before walking away. Raven pulled Molly back a little. He could sense her shivering  
  
"Relax, I am more afraid of these people than you, you have no right to be"  
  
Molly gathered her fragile breaths, her eyes going wide and frightened.  
  
"I know, now I think about it, I'm afraid; these are your people"  
  
"They're your's too"  
  
At this Molly smiled and gave a slow delighted nod. Raven began walking again at this and pushed open a door at the end of the corridor. His confidence was almost like steel now. He had Molly beside him and he didn't need anyone else.  
  
The room was full of a low volume music, some sort of old trashed rock that sort of hummed in the atmosphere and took away any sharp edges. The room was quite small, there was a few chairs scattered around with a long table down one side scattered haphazardly with drink and food. There were people, people he knew so well. Like his children or his lifeblood.  
  
"Raven" a quiet voice said "it's good to see you again"  
  
Lance Storm stood in front of them and held out his hand which Raven took and shook wordlessly.  
  
"Raven! How lovely to see you!" a bubbly voice chattered  
  
Dawn Marie appeared beside Lance, linking an arm through his. She wore a black sleeveless top that glittered like stars and a tiny matching skirt, revealing a lot of cleavage and legs. Her auburn hair was back into its zesty natural curls which sprung around her shoulders. She looked as though she'd stepped from an old ECW PPV  
  
"Dawn Marie" Raven said tonelessly, turning his moonlit eyes on her "It is good to see you back into your natural skin, cosying up to Paul E doesn't suit you"  
  
Dawn didn't flinch at his words but nodded solemnly. She's been made Paul's assistant and had been seen by the cameras flirting outrageously with her new boss, encased in leather outfits that left nothing to the imagination and her hair ironed straight with streaks of rebellious blonde in.  
  
"I know but I need work, no one at Smackdown will give me any now that Stephanie's gone, she liked me but now Vince is there and Paul's in charge, it's all hopeless"  
  
"There is always Raw" spoke up Lance  
  
"Lance, we've been through this" Dawn said gently "my place isn't among the Raw divas where they can all kick my ass, it's at Smackdown where I can learn more"  
  
"I'd help you on Raw" said Molly suddenly, having watched the exchange with interest "I'd be more than willing to"  
  
"Really? Because I know....."  
  
Dawn's voice seemed to fade away as Molly and she stepped away to talk together, locked into their own little circle of reality. Raven watched them closely. They were two very different breeds; Dawn had used her body to get into places she otherwise wouldn't be allowed into though he knew that Lance trained her to wrestle a little, she was an excellent manager one of the best and was happy to do what Lance thought was best. Molly was all passionate independence and now that she was the champion, was full of renewed confidence. She felt better about her job, especially since she was joined to Raven now.  
  
Raven turned and found that Lance had melted away. It mattered little to him. That was the nature of ECW. He turned more to fully observe the room and the people in it. Tommy Dreamer sat down talking to Stevie Richards. Victoria was nowhere to be seen though Dreamer's wife Beulah stood talking to Tazz. Raven tore his eyes from her. She had been his but Dreamer had stolen her, his golden prize he had craved and adored. But things had turned out well. Raven had proceeded to steal Francine, Dreamer's new girlfriend from him in the same fashion. Life was a bitch. Now Dreamer and Beulah were married. A perfect little ending.  
  
"Like our's"  
  
Molly appeared beside him, smiling a blood red smile. Raven smiled. He was used to her seeing his thoughts. It was something she'd picked up on naturally and meant there was little use for words anymore. He didn't think of Beulah anymore, he had done for a long time. She had occupied more thoughts than he wanted her to but then betrayal can leave ugly scars. Now she was not even in his consciousness, just a small pinprick burn that he could smoulder over occasionally.  
  
"Let the past drift away" Molly said softly "I can feel you thinking about it all again, we're not here to open old wounds"  
  
He nodded and looked around some more. Tajiri, Super Crazy, Tammy Lyn Sytch who was giving Dawn a wide birth, Justin Credible sat in a long heated conversation with his long term lover Jason. Everything seemed shimmery around the edges but perfectly bitterly normal. Someone had turned the clock back and here they were, ready for a meeting with Paul.  
  
He felt a glass in his hand. Molly had handed it to him. She was his rock, immoveable. None of this affected her personally but she felt it because of him. It was pricking her insides and making her bleed because of him. Yet she didn't complain. His people were her's too. She had always belonged here though.  
  
This was Christmas. 


	2. Sweet like Chocolate

"See, it wasn't so bad"  
  
Molly's soft voice touched him like a tender caress. He closed his eyes for a second and let his sense take over as he basked in the moment. He felt her drop her parcel on the little wooden table and then ease off her jacket. He could see her give a quirky little smile, so much like those that had blinded him when she'd been a Holly. Not that she wasn't now but that she was a proper member of that sunbaked clan. Back when smiling candy pink smiles had been a lifestyle. Her smile now was blood red, painted on perfectly so that it was part of herself and not part of an act. He could smell the leather too.  
  
Every moment with her was an experience  
  
He opened his eyes and found her in front of him, her eyes calm and serene. She'd mellowed since being with him. She could pull the anger out when she was on-screen, she could take out all her negative emotions when she was fighting and determined to win. She was calm now fighting; she was fighting for a cause. Jealousy was an ugly word, but when she was cheered over the overrated fireball burnout Lita, she had reason to feel such ugly green feelings. Molly was more beautiful than could be imagined; Lita was nothing to him at all.  
  
"It was..bearable" he agreed  
  
"Dawn Marie's nice" Molly decided "she's different to how I imagined, like chocolate"  
  
"How so?"  
  
"She's very sweet, hard not to like at all but there's something beneath the surface, like you know there's something bad, wicked about her" Molly clarified  
  
Raven chuckled. It was an astute analysis of Dawn.  
  
"She has a tempestuous side, a wild side you might call it, she can wrestle a little thanks to Lance and she is certainly not just a body, she's a different breed of diva"  
  
Molly nodded thoughtfully. Raven could see her reliving all the people she'd meet that night, the legends in her head she'd finally put to rest.  
  
"I'm glad I was there beside you, I met them all, all those people I see in your dreams" she spoke again  
  
"Mmmmm, in my past"  
  
"Yeah, your past"  
  
She was pacing the room a little now. The top was a tank top, blood red and clingy. It accented those gorgeous curves, the parts that made her her. He smiled appreciatively, then took a look around the small house they had acquired. The rooms were decorated in their own taste of festivity. A small tree stood in the living room, accented in gold and bronze with a tiny scattering of wrapped presents stacked neatly beneath it. Matching green and gold decorations were hung here and there around the house but were few and far between. It was earthy, deep and warm. It was the two of them. Against the world  
  
Suddenly he felt Molly draw him in close to her and her darkened lips were against his. He still enjoyed her taste, enjoyed that deep velvety flamey feeling she embued him with. It was like coming home, a comforting feeling that filled him with that inner fire. His hands tangled in her dark mane, drawing her closer into him as her own arms wrapped around his waist, grazing his bare skin as they did. Christmas changed nothing between them  
  
They had been brought together at long last. After so long watching from afar, waiting and biding his time as he drew her name in the air. But she had found him, told him what she saw and how much she loved him. Slowly they pulled apart. Raven smiled at the face in front of him. Still wholly perfect to him. To her? Maybe not. She still felt that crippling self doubt after her family had forced her into something she wasn't. But he was there to take care of her. To treasure her. No one else could see just how beautiful she was.  
  
"Merry Christmas"  
  
Raven cocked an eyebrow at her  
  
"Its past Midnight now Raven, we're truly into the sacred day"  
  
"Means nothing to me"  
  
"But you spend it with me, surely that must mean something?"  
  
Her tone was coy and teasing but Raven could feel the beginnings of a regretful smile twitching the corners of his mouth.  
  
"Whenever I spend time with you, it means something" he replied at last "it being Christmas makes no difference"  
  
Molly nodded once and reached behind her. She drew the parcel up from the table and pressed it against his body so close to her. One of her rusty hands stroked it  
  
"For you, for Christmas"  
  
Raven cocked an eyebrow again but Molly nodded again, keeping the present flush against him. With a sigh, Raven took the parcel and pulled the silvery wrapping from it. It was a leaf, a rust red immortal framed on a brown cardboard background. It was a memory of the fall  
  
"To remember the time we met" clarified Molly "my favourite time of year"  
  
"When the world changes"  
  
"Everything does"  
  
Raven smiled and carefully laid the frame on the table behind Molly. It was perfect for him; he might even accept and keep it. He was undecided though it was a delicate thought. She was his princess, whether it was Christmas or not.  
  
"Thank you"  
  
She dipped her head almost shyly and nodded before grinning suddenly and lifting her head again  
  
"There's New Years to get past next"  
  
He laughed, an actual joyful laugh. Another hurdle to stumble past with her by his side. Life could be worse. He could be alone with his demons but Molly made them bearable, she shared them with him and eased the pain. Even here, in the twilight, on Christmas Day. 


	3. Flying Colors

A/N ok don't own anything. This was supposed to just be a quick Christmas fic sequel but now it has a life of its own. I have at least one more chapter to do after this. D u lot want me to continue? Please let me know!  
  
FLYING COLORS  
  
New Years  
  
It brings fresh resolve to keep new and old promises. Molly smiled. There weren't many of them she was planning to keep real soon except maybe one. The cold silver of her ring felt like it burned through her leather gloves as she and Raven walked. To the place they liked to call home. Raven referred to it as their Roost. It made her smile all over her darkened mouth.  
  
"Back among these shadowy halls"  
  
She could hear Raven muttering again. He always was, in that way where it sounded like he didn't want to be heard but really he did. But only by her, by no one else. His thoughts were for her alone. She could sense them coming or even better hear them and practically taste them on occasion. It was delicious and comforting, knowing he was just a touch or a thought away.  
  
"Coffee?" she asked, dropping her bag on the hall table of pretty polished wood  
  
"As black as night and twice as bitter"  
  
With a singular nod which caused her curling hair to fall over her eyes, Molly strode into the tiny kitchen. Her hair on TV was straight, she hated that. It wasn't her and like everyone else in the WWE, she liked being herself on TV. She liked her hair curly so whenever she could, she let it fall back into its natural wavering curls. Raven seemed to like it too.  
  
The kettle steam flowing upwards, warming her face gently. It made her sigh in pleasure; the warmth was nice after the coldness of the night. They hadn't gone far, just to a small hotel room where they solemnly raised glasses with Lance and Dawn Marie who was very interested in what Molly had to say about female wrestling. Molly was learning to like her more and more and could see why Lance evidently adored her in his own stiff way. Dawn was sweet like chocolate and twice as nice though there was still that darkness beneath the surface, almost wickedness. It hadn't surprised Molly to find Dawn with a pair of devil horns among her auburn curls that matched her red leather dress as she opened the door. Raven had said that everyone in ECW had that darkness beneath them, which the WWE sometimes slowly rubbed out. She knew that he missed that darkness in them all and felt safe in the knowledge that Lance and Dawn would always have that side to themselves.  
  
"What's on your mind?"  
  
She started a tiny bit, turning to find him behind her. He looked at her, completely focused on her face. He once told her he could find all the answers he ever needed there and it still took her breath away to think about it. Without a word except that half twisted smile, she turned back and poured his coffee. When she turned to give it to him, he was still staring at her  
  
"What do you see?" she asked, quietly  
  
"Your eyes, they're the same color as the coffee" he answered, his own eyes searching her face  
  
"As black as night and twice as bitter?"  
  
"Beautiful and full of twilight"  
  
She lowered her eyes and handed him his coffee. He made her smile inside and that was always a good thing. So much had happened since that night up in the rafters. Things had happened to her family which made her ashamed inside. Though she knew she should be grateful since darkness had come at last. Cousin Crash was dead. He was found in Stevie Richards' house. It had made Molly weak at the knees when she heard. Her mother never even called her to let her know, she found out through the internet. It comforted her that he'd been with Stevie, one of his very best friends, an ECW legend. It comforted her to know Crash was near some semblance of darkness when it happened and that he was out of the WWE's stifling grasp which had squeezed him dry. He hadn't been happy at all and was found in a drug haze, all gone and burnt out.  
  
Raven had given her a bottle of brandy and sat up on the roof by her side. They'd drunk it between them and revelled in the warmth in their bellies.  
  
She hadn't spoken to Hardcore in a while, feeling that he'd just be angry. He never spoke about his feelings, let alone embraced them. To try and talk about Crash's death would probably have killed him in itself. That was why he was so angry on TV and attacking Brock Lesnar with such luster. That made her proud. She was sure the family had decided not to talk to her as a group. She was a disgrace, embracing that darkness which jarred so violently with them. Darkness was who she was; she wasn't going to ignore it anymore. It made her feel better. She could stand the WWE because she knew she had demons to fight there, it was all too much for Crash to bear but she was part of the darkness which consumed him and could therefore fight on through.  
  
One of Raven's callused hands rested on her bare shoulder. She could feel every bump and stitch in him, left over from his Clockwork Orange House of Fun matches which he lived for. Molly didn't fear for his safety because she was watching over him and that kept her sane. Stephanie had tried talking to her again about Molly was so solemn and introspective until Molly had finally had to firmly tell her go away, that she had someone more important who looked after her. Stephanie had strangely understood. She didn't even say anything, just smiled a strange understanding smile. She had that with Eric.  
  
"Come up to the rafters"  
  
Molly nodded, as though shaking away the cobwebs that shadowed her must- filled mind. Raven nodded and stroked from her shoulder through her hair. It was a comforting reassuring gesture that told her he knew what she was going through. With bright glassy eyes, she walked out of the kitchen and towards the back of the house where she picked up a pole and used it to open the trapdoor above her head. A ladder slid conveniently out and with a full heart and buzzing mind she ascended up into the darkness. Raven followed her.  
  
It was a small attic room with a large window looking out into the night. The floor was clean and bare. There was nothing there but the two of them.  
  
"What do you see Molly?"  
  
Molly smiled and closed her eyes. She allowed herself to drift  
  
"I see sadness, I see a family of golden-haired children crying for a lost love, I see Eric and Stephanie living a life they never knew existed, I see Lance and Dawn enjoying each other at last in a way most people wait for the whole of their lives, I see people trying to change us all and take away our darkness and I see us freefalling through the holes of life and out again, I see us landing safely"  
  
With a satisfied sigh, she opened her eyes again and found Raven sat cross- legged in front of her. He was looking through her.  
  
"I see the stars in the sky from millions of years ago still watching us both and I see you, dying inside because of your cousin" he said quietly, his midnight eyes not leaving her face  
  
"I guess that's true, everyone expects me to change back into innocent little Molly but I can't now I've become myself, I'm happy in the darkness" she lowered her eyes "I'm glad Crash was at Stevie's house when it happened, I'm glad he came home to the darkness"  
  
"As you should be" she felt his eyes find her ring and felt his thoughts tick through slowly "remember our promise"  
  
Her mouth quirked into an odd little smile  
  
"To fight the demons together"  
  
"Because we can both see them"  
  
He nodded and gently took her hand his, rubbing the ring thoughtfully.  
  
"We made it through New Years" he said almost thoughtfully, almost to himself "another year to conquer with our friends at our sides"  
  
Molly smiled fully this time and she heard Raven sigh contentedly. She looked out of the window at the pretty star-filled sky and took a deep breath of fresh air. They had passed New Years with flying colors. Now she felt like she could survive anything 


	4. Opening an Old Wound

Disclaimer: remember I own nothing so thanks anyway for not suing. Thanks to Cat Lea for reviewing, I love this story too. Much more to come if I continue to get support. Enjoy  
  
OPENING AN OLD WOUND.  
  
The night was still young when Molly emerged from the attic to find some ice cream. Raven was sat upstairs, a worn black notebook in his hand as he scratched down some tenderly dark words. Molly smiled through feathery lashes. Everything was calm when she was there, in the darkness with him. She giggled then stopped. She hadn't heard that sound for a long time. Isolation did that to you, sudden joyful noises brought surprise. Raw was lonely because no one understood her pain and anger and how she chose to express it. Betrayal was such an ugly word.  
  
The freezer released a frozen breath which chilled her to the bones. It made her smile. She could hear Raven moving around on the floor above. She cast an eye above, listening to his footfalls. He'd hung her Christmas gift to him on their bedroom wall. She'd seen him smile at it and hid her own. It was his way of saying he liked it, by hanging it where he could see it.  
  
She scooped some ice cream into a bowl and tried a spoonful. It tasted divine. Her favourite. As she began scooping more into another bowl, there was a loud impatient knock at the door. Frowning, Molly put down the spoon and crossed in bare feet to the door. Who would be out at this time of night? Usually it was an ECW person, in the area and wanting shelter. So Molly would gather a pillow and blankets and leave them on the couch for them. In the morning, she'd cook them pancakes and coffee and smile as they left, glad to see them again. It was all a learning experience to get to know more of Raven's past who he hesitantly welcomed in.  
  
With a creak she opened the door and smiled at the person she saw standing there. It was a female, stringy build and the same height as Molly. She has long hair dyed ash blonde and pulled into a lot of skinny braids and covered with a white backwards baseball cap. She wore denim cut-off shorts with black patterned leggings underneath and a plain white baggy basketball jersey. Her eyes were covered with large kiddie sunglasses the lenses shaped like hearts and she chewed gum loudly, her make-up sharp and dark so that it emphasised the angles in her face with lips outlined in black. Molly had the strangest sensation that she'd met her before. The girl's dark mouth twisted into a smile  
  
"You must be Molly" she said, her voice rough and raspy "mind if I come in?"  
  
"Sure"  
  
Even though Molly couldn't find a name for her, she knew this girl was someone from Raven's past. Maybe she'd seen her on one of the old WCW or ECW tapes? It didn't matter. The girl walked abrasively in though she didn't knock Molly as she did, just brushed past her. After locking the door securely, Molly turned to find the stranger sprawled out on the couch with a faded denim knapsack beside her.  
  
"Do you want me to get Raven?" Molly asked  
  
"Nah, he knows I'm here already, it's a thing we've always had"  
  
"Ok, want some ice cream?"  
  
"Sure why not"  
  
Molly picked up the other bowl from the kitchen and handed it to the stranger who sat in their living room. There was a sharpness to her features that Molly recognised, the way she looked around the room keenly and the way she suddenly smiled. But most of all it was her voice. Molly was positive that she ought to know who this female was but she didn't.  
  
"I see you've met my sister"  
  
Raven appeared and stared at the two of them sat on the couch. Molly jerked around and then gave a slow thoughtful nod, entirely unsurprised. The final piece of puzzle slotted into place. His sister. She racked her brains for the memories she had. Her name was Chastity and she'd been part of both ECW and WCW but hadn't followed her brother all the way to the WWE. She been involved in a lot of hardcore matches and was most famous for her use of the fire extinguisher. She had the look of Raven about her which made Molly smile and like her immediately. It was the same sort of feeling she'd had about Dawn Marie.  
  
Raven slowly descended and then circled round to look at his sister who blew a large bubblegum bubble before smiling a wide obnoxious smile. Molly smiled a little at the stern look on Raven's face. Chastity was obviously his younger sister.  
  
"Yes, she's younger than me" confirmed Raven "when there were my problems with my dearest mother in WCW, I brought Chastity along with me before she aligned herself with that delinquent Hak"  
  
A vague memory of a stocky angry man, with short bleached blonde hair and barbed wire wrapped around his body surfaced in Molly's mind and she nodded thoughtfully. Raven hadn't told her much about her family but she'd seen it in his thoughts. Cranky grey memories swirled around in barbed wire and a wiry blonde who sprayed a fire extinguisher in his face. His memories were blurred and softened in places but in others sharp and painful.  
  
"Suck wind Raven" Chastity snapped, pulling her shades off to reveal angry eyes as black as cherries "I didn't come here for you to trash Hak alright? I'm here to spend a little New Year time with my brother"  
  
"How fortunate for me" Raven said, remaining standing  
  
Chastity rolled her eyes and removed her gum, sticking it in a tiny dish on the table in front of her. Molly raised an eyebrow, how did Chastity know that was what the dish was used for? The blonde shrugged at her brother and began eating the ice cream in her bowl as though he wasn't there.  
  
"What exactly is your purpose here?" Raven asked her, determined not to let her stay silent  
  
"I told ya, to see you and your girl" Chastity gestured at Molly with her spoon "you can't keep nothing secret from ECW remember? I know all about her and I'm happy for ya"  
  
"Do not talk about Molly as though you know her!" Raven said sharply "you know nothing of her or of us, you cannot stay here tonight"  
  
"Why not? You gonna make me sleep on the doorstep?"  
  
"If I have to, yes" Raven's voice was strong and deep, his eyes glimmering dangerously "remember I never wanted you near me Chastity, our mother forced your presence into my life"  
  
"Get a grip Raven! You got depressed and Mom took you home" Chastity shot back "oh and then you say you were faking the depression? Babe, I know you better and you were depressed, no matter what you claim, I'm a part of your life whether you like it or not"  
  
"I may just choose to ignore it"  
  
"Real mature, you can be such an ass"  
  
"And you are a brat Chastity! Always wanting your own way, well you cannot have it here, especially when you're still involved with that delinquent Hak, he's not even worthy to spit on"  
  
Molly remained quiet. She rarely heard Raven speak with such dark intensity, so angry at his scowling sister. This was something buried deep within him that he refused anyone, not even her, look at. Chastity was his pain spot, a wealth of unhappy childhood which set off all his sparks and stripped him down to his basics; an angry young man in a world he perceived to be unfair.  
  
Chastity glared back at him, that same intensity burning in her eyes. She ground her teeth  
  
"I don't want my own way Raven, I just deserve a little respect, ya can at least be civil to me ok? And you ain't being rid of me yet ok?" she spat out "I'm not here to mend the bridges in your deluded mind, I'm here coz I wanted to see you for some perverted reason"  
  
Raven regarded her for a moment before sliding his eyes over to Molly. Molly smiled at him and raised an eyebrow. She could see his thoughts, he wasn't torn, he wanted Chastity as far away possible. So much pain there, so much he could never say. She was no longer part of his life. Raven nodded and turned away. She understood  
  
"Be gone by the time I return"  
  
Chastity sat and watched him as he walked up the stairs, a million memories mirrored in her glassy dark eyes. 


	5. It's All Broken

Disclaimer: I own nothing I promise!! Now info on Chastity - she was diva in ECW and WCW and was portrayed as his sister in both. The story in WCW was that Raven got manically depressed and his mom took him home to help him where we were introduced to his sister Chastity. He later revealed he'd only pretended to be depressed to piss his mother off. Chastity accompanied him to the ring until she betrayed him for Hak. I'm unsure what happened after that but am continuing to research her as having seen her on tape, I feel she's a wicked character. Thanks for all the reviews, keep em coming.  
  
IT'S ALL BROKEN  
  
Chastity slept on the couch that night. Molly had smiled and wished her good night before walking up the stairs, switching off the lights softly. Chastity had stripped off her clothes matter-of-factly in front of Molly, sleeping in just her white panties and jersey. Molly wasn't surprised. Chastity had no inhibitions. She was determined to stay, what for Molly couldn't say but she wasn't going to throw Chastity out. She had a feeling that Raven needed this now.  
  
She could feel Chastity disappear over the edge into sleep. She walked into her and Raven's room. He was sat on top of the bed, examining his blackened fingers. Sighing a wistful breeze, Molly sat down next to him and took one of his hands in her's. It fitted perfectly. Her smooth soft hands in his callused marked one. So alike.  
  
"Chastity's asleep on the couch" she said softly, staring at the combined hands in her lap.  
  
"You didn't throw her out?"  
  
"I couldn't Raven, there's something there..." Molly tried to explain "I just can't let her go and let her sleep on the doorstep; you know she'll stay until she gets to see you"  
  
Raven nodded and finally looked into Molly's eyes. His own eyes were outlined thickly in black, marking them with more intensity. He wore a loose Nirvana t-shirt and black leather pants that reached his knees before being abruptly cut short. He was her picture of perfection.  
  
"I know things about her that you do not Molly, she is my sister and part of my muddied past that I cannot get rid of unless I do not think about her"  
  
"We all have to face our families" said Molly, thinking about Crash as she did  
  
"We both escaped from ours" Raven reminded her "neither of us deserve to go back there again"  
  
Molly couldn't express what she saw in Raven's face when he spoke about this. There was so much there that didn't want to be talked about. But that was what being in the darkness was about, casting shadows on the parts that you didn't want anyone else to see. That was what she and Raven did; it was what the ECW cohorts did. She nodded  
  
"I know but she's..she's you"  
  
Raven looked at her curiously out of his moonlit eyes  
  
"How so?"  
  
Molly settled herself more comfortably on the bed and took a deep breath as she gripped his hand. This would take some explaining.  
  
"She has you in her; she has that darkness that you see in your friends, in your ECW partners" Molly began "I know your past is full of pain but she's part of you whether you believe me or not, I see it"  
  
The room filled with silence, Raven gently stroking Molly's hands.  
  
"You are everything Molly" he said finally, looking her square in the eyes "you know me backwards, more than any other mortal ever has, we are not of this Earth and that comforts me, that I am not part of this stinking pit of humanity but Chastity is and that she is related to me sickens my soul"  
  
"But she is your human side Raven" Molly persisted "she's part of what shaped you and she's part of your present now that she's determined for this to happen"  
  
"She is nothing to me" Raven's voice was emotionless and detached "she is just another deceptive backstabbing slut, like all the rest of my family, mired in betrayal and taking what you can to get even more"  
  
"She is part of you" Molly insisted, her voice getting stronger "you can't see but I can, I've seen the videos of you two together and you just are two of the same material"  
  
Raven looked at her incredulously, his eyes darkening as he took in her well meant words.  
  
"There is too much in my life you haven't seen" he murmured finally "the morning will bring clearer skies"  
  
Molly smiled and disappeared into the bathroom to change. When she returned, Raven lay under the soft black covers, his eyes fixed on the ceiling. He was looking at something that only existed in his mind. Quietly she slipped in beside him and leant against his shoulder. Slowly she drifted to sleep, trying to catch some threads of his thoughts as she did. But Raven sat up most of the night in that way that he could without sleep, unblinking as he took in his past that slept downstairs and his present that slept beside him and the tangled decisions they brought with them. The turmoil and the peace. 


	6. Crash Course

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Hope the Chastity explanation cleared some stuff up for ya  
  
CRASH COURSE  
  
Raven awoke to the smell of pancakes. This usually signalled that one of his old ECW friends has slept on the couch and was sat at the table, digging into Molly's delicious food she'd prepared for them. But pain stabbed through his heart, forcing him to sit up. His sister was lying down on the couch, talking to Molly and filling her mind with poison.  
  
Slowly he pulled himself from the covers and walked to the bathroom for a quick refreshing shower. It felt good against his tortured skin, sifting all the pain away for the moment. After towelling himself dry, he dressed quickly in a black t-shirt and dark tight pants before securing a forest green kilt over the top. His peered into the mirror before him and carefully created white shapeless patterns beneath his eyes with his white body-paint. His hair was beginning to grow into a thick black stubble since he hadn't bothered re-shaving it after the initial shock of cutting it all off. He liked how it looked, maybe he'd grow it all back in dark waves.  
  
He could feel Molly in the kitchen, humming under her breath as she flipped a pancake. Slowly he pulled on a pair of his worn black sneakers and made his shadowy way down the stairs, feeling like he was bleeding into the black carpet. As he reached bottom he saw Chastity sat at the small breakfast table the other side of the kitchen in a room where they ate sometimes. She wore a denim skirt that skimmed her knees with the leggings underneath and a white button up shirt she'd tied at her belly-button. Her hair was still in the plaits and her make-up still as dark. She was sprawled on her chair, in an extremely un-ladylike manner and had her head thrown back in laughter as he came into view.  
  
"Well that's what life was like on the road" she was saying "I mean Paul sometimes paid us, sometimes he didn't but the experience was worth it all, some of the girls were bitches but most of them were ok, most of them put their heart and soul into this business, they couldn't wrestle for shit but they'd catfight or bump real well, it was a great atmosphere"  
  
"If you call great when your best friend betrays you on a regular basis and steals your girl then yes you are correct Chastity" Raven atoned as he crossed the living room "good morning"  
  
She gave him a mock salute as he walked into the kitchen and found Molly serving food onto three different plates. He mentally rearranged his thoughts, trying to keep his more dark ones at bay. She didn't deserve to know about his past and the whores who had wrecked it. She was different, untouchable. She wore faded dark jeans and a low cut navy blue vest, her hair cascading in wild untamed curls down her back in the limited way it could. As usual, she was beautiful in his rainy eyes  
  
"Good morning" he said softly, touching her waist with his hands in a loving gesture  
  
She turned with a pretty moonlit smile and kissed him in the cheek as he turned to collect a plate  
  
"I thought the pancakes would wake you up plenty" she said quietly "you sleep ok last night?"  
  
"Not bad" he replied "yourself?"  
  
"Dreams always haunt me but it was ok" she said picking up the remaining plates "I can live with it"  
  
Raven nodded and carried his plate into the room where Chastity sat. He pointedly sat at the other end of the table from and dug into the plate of beautiful steaming food in front of him. It tasted as heavenly as he expected. Molly for her part sat opposite Chastity and near him, bridging the gap. Chastity grinned at her brother's behaviour and accepted the plate Molly offered her.  
  
"Thanks Molly, this looks real good" she commented, stabbing a piece of pancake with her fork and popping it into her mouth "mmm tastes even better"  
  
Molly smiled and nodded. Raven fumed behind an impassive face. His sister was supposed to be gone but instead she was sat eating their food and enjoying it. Molly was supposed to have thrown her out by now. There was too much at stake, too much burning inside for her to understand. He would never allow anything to hurt her and Chastity could do that. He wanted her out now so that he could talk to Molly. The time had come for him to explain properly to her what had happened.  
  
"Chastity what do you plan to do today?" he asked abruptly  
  
"Spend some time with you"  
  
"That is not going to happen"  
  
She at least had the good grace to look hurt. Raven smirked at her; inside he knew she must be furious. Molly sat silently tucking in her food but he knew she was listening to his thoughts and picking up what she could. That comforted him some what.  
  
"Why not? Jesus, just forget the past and move on, then we can all have a good time" said Chastity, her voice getting louder  
  
"Forget the past? Have you conveniently forgotten what you have done to me?" Raven's own voice became more menacingly as he eyed his sister with furious eyes "how much you have cost me in victories, let alone sweat and anger? You disgust me and I cannot forget what you started"  
  
"You have to grow up" snorted Chastity, shoving her plate aside so that she could focus on Raven "you think you're such a hard man when really, you're a spoilt little rich boy playing to be poor to just appease your stupid grunge ideals"  
  
"You didn't think they were so stupid when you came with me to WCW"  
  
"Anything to escape that hellhole we're forced to call home"  
  
"The same as me Chastity but you chose a different path"  
  
"Oh just because I got to have the Sandman in the end and stop you from destroying him?"  
  
There was a frigid cold silence. Raven glared at his sister before turning his head towards Molly  
  
"Hak's former name was Sandman, it was how he was known in ECW and Chastity is under the strange delusion that she has somehow got something over me by managing to keep one of my enemies away from my grasp"  
  
"I ain't under no delusion bird boy, he's mine now and you ain't ever getting him back"  
  
"Why would I want him back? He is all your's to play with, I want nothing to do with him"  
  
Chastity laughed and got to her feet. There was indignant fire in her eyes as she stared at her brother who stared right back. All he felt was pain and anger looking at her. It made him want to set light to her hair as he had done when they were kids.  
  
"Pride comes before a fall Raven, I'm gonna be back this evening and if you're nice I may even bring the Sandman to see you, you've just gotta shut your hole for a bit and then you can tell Miss Molly here all you've done before you start throwing trash on my past"  
  
She picked up the knapsack from beside her and setting her jaw, marched off out of the house. Raven stared after her. He had no wish to see Sandman or Hak or whatever he was calling himself now. He was part of his past. Just as Dreamer, Beulah, Kimona, Lori and Francine were. Pricked by pain of course whenever he thought of them but no longer part of him. They had destroyed each other, he and Sandman and he Raven was content for it to be that way. He had been through so much which had shaped him the way he was.  
  
He drank down his black coffee and as he put the cup back down, he saw Molly eating her food mechanically as she stared straight ahead. His heart felt cold at the sight of her. She was forced to hear his jumbled thoughts as they seared through his head and know nothing of what he had been through. The sluts who had caused him to stumble and the pain he had caused. He was proud of his legacy but some things were better left never said.  
  
"What a tangled web we weave" he muttered as he picked his plate up and walked to the kitchen  
  
"Do you think Chastity really will bring Sandman here?" Molly asked from the other room  
  
"Most likely not, at least I hope not since I despise him after everything"  
  
Molly appeared at the kitchen doorway, her empty plate in hand and a frown puckering her face. Raven sighed and stood before her, reaching a hand to her face to gently smooth the wrinkles away.  
  
"It's all too complicated for this life we have" he muttered, offering nothing more than a gloomy eyed smile 


	7. A Wealth of Pain

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Just the clothes on my back and my broken heart. I hope u guys like where this is heading, I'm not sure as I'm just letting my muses guide me. But would u like Sandman to appear? Chastity definitely will appear again but do u want Sandman? Please let me know via reviews  
  
A WEALTH OF PAIN  
  
Snow fell past the window, coating the hard ground with a unique softness. Molly sat on the window sill watching it, the strange blue light making her face look quite remarkable. She had sat there most of the morning, gazing out at the world absorbed in her thoughts. Raven stood in the shadows of the doorway, holding his breath as he watched her breathe misting the glass as she did. He had been standing there for quite a while without realising. His heart skipped a beat and once again he felt that sharp icy blast through his heart of realising you get when you are in love with the perfect woman. He'd only had that once before he ever set eyes on Molly and that was with Beulah  
  
"She was very different to me" Molly said, without turning around at all  
  
Raven quirked a smile and walked forward silently so that he was standing behind her, seeing her view of the frosty quiet world and his hand was heavy on her shoulder  
  
"Yes she was" he replied "both so full of the darkness, both choosing to fight it in very different ways, it nearly destroyed her but you, you came out somewhat stronger"  
  
There was a moment of silence  
  
"Will you show me them?" Molly turned so that her large soulful eyes were all Raven could see "I get snatches but not everything and I want to know it all, I want to be able to feel all that pain I see in your eyes sometimes and feel in your thoughts, then I can know why you claw free of the past"  
  
Raven nodded and Molly turned her head forwards again so that she was focusing on the snow outside as it fell. He closed his eyes and slowly let the images in his head paint themselves and the feelings so intrinsically intertwined with them. As he drew in a cold breath, he saw what she saw.  
  
Barbed wire and Kendo sticks. Packed jeering arenas, steel folding chairs being handed over the barricades. Women barely concealing their flesh running around the ring, throwing slaps, having catfights, or wielding weapons. Occasionally a familiar face jumped out from the grey mish-mash. Dawn Marie blowing a kiss at the camera or catfighting with Francine. Beulah spraying hairspray in Tommy Dreamer's eyes and then making out with Kimona. Then the Sandman. Dressed in stars and stripes pants and a red t- shirt, a cigarette in the corner of his mouth and a kendo stick in one hand, Woman clad in a black velvet dress brandishing the ECW World Championship belt. Everything stripped down to its bare essentials, it was all smoky vivid violence and undiluted sex  
  
Then blood. Lots of it. Raven with his face painted in a horrific crimson mask. Sandman cutting himself by smashing a beer can on his forehead after draining it. Blood splattering the canvas in horrific raindrops. Tommy Dreamer being decimated to the mat in a DDT. Paul Heyman cutting a usually intense promo in the back with his ever present baseball cap on. Mikey Whipwreck squeaking out a victory. The Pitbulls with thick iron collars around their necks racing their way to the ring. Cactus Jack grinning in that maniacal way, his eyes glinting dangerously.  
  
Then WCW. Gouging at Scotty Riggs eyes, Riggs standing mesmerised in front of the Flock. Kanyon being pushed into a swimming pool by Sandman. Chastity dragged a canvas bin of weapons to the ring then popping out the same bin brandishing a fire extinguisher to blind Bam Bam Bigalow. Hak covered in barbed wire as he made his way to the ring. Chastity dropping in a headbutt towards Raven. The members of the Flock betraying him and abandoning him. Perry Saturn handing him a tag team championship belt.  
  
Then nothing. Just darkness. Raven opened his eyes and blinked slowly, taking in the eerie blue light. Molly stirred quietly under his hand. He looked out to the snow, taking in its beauty again. He wondered briefly how beautiful Molly would look with snowflakes covering her eyelashes. She'd now seen into his past, deeper than he'd let her before.  
  
"It's all so confused" she murmured quietly "I can feel it all but it all feels wrong like it shouldn't have happened"  
  
"It did and there was nothing we could do to stop it, Tommy and I, we were bound by hate and blood to fight through the ages until heaven's gates close before us and we're left in purgatory"  
  
Molly nodded then abruptly got to her feet. There was a determination in her face which made him smile. It reminded him that her spirit was so free and independent that he would never even try to capture it. She was not to be captured, contained or changed in anyway. That had happened too much already and her soul was thickly scarred forever.  
  
"Come with me"  
  
She took one of his hands in her's and led him outside into the snow. It coated everything in a frosty sweet covering and he could feel the snow dappling his shoulders. Despite the chill in the air, he didn't shiver. The cold didn't affect him. Molly smiled up to the sky and the snowflakes fell softly on her face, softening her precise make-up. It was a beautiful sight. He felt an urge inside to paint her in all her snow dappled glory but knew it would never do her justice.  
  
"This is the world we live in Raven" she said at last, bringing her face back down to normal level "I can see and feel your pain, it's the same as mine but Chastity is here and she's real, just like this snow, she betrayed you and now after everything she is the one with the Sandman after your blood history"  
  
"It's a way of our life, ECW shapes us in mysterious ways" Raven replied, mesmerised by her snow flaked hair "we allow ourselves to become animals, stripped down to our instincts and the desire to tear each other apart, there is no love, only hate"  
  
"Do you accept your past?"  
  
He smiled at her, a smile that spoke of everything that had happened between himself and the Sandman. Molly hadn't seen Sandman's wife Lori and his son Tyler as they became Raven's followers for a while; she hadn't seen Tyler cane his own father. She hadn't seen half the bloody beauty he'd wrecked on that sorry carcass of an ex-champion. She would one day when she found it in his head.  
  
"I always have accepted it" he replied to her "I am reconciled to the forces that shaped me and made me the way I am as I stand before you"  
  
"Then that's the way it should be, the world isn't pure white like snow but in our minds, its darkness splattered with blood red"  
  
Raven nodded and extended a hand to her. Molly took it and they walked back into the house together. Molly sat on the couch and after a moment of taking her in, a vision of snowflakes on oak brown hair, blood red lips and coffee black eyes, Raven sat beside her. There was a calming peace between them that filled his soul and quelled the angry aching that Chastity has brought to the surface. She reminded him of the mindless betrayals that had been inflicted on him and the way people just dismissed him because he was a grunge child of a disenchanted generation. He had learned to feed off the crowd's hate; their cheers were not what he desired. Molly had learned that too. It brought them together, in the rafters that night.  
  
Slowly he lowered his head to her lap and lay there, drinking in the peace. Her gentle hand stroked over his stubbly head. There was peace between them until the next storm. 


	8. Another Few Steps

Disclaimer: I own nothing, again. Raven is still in my thoughts, I hope one day this story will end but it's not seeming likely for a while. Thanks for the reviews, keep them coming.  
  
ANOTHER FEW STEPS  
  
The silence seemed to hang between them like a sword. Molly liked that image. She wished she could reach up and grab it, slicing through what was constricting it all. Truth be told, she was a little unnerved by what she'd seen in Raven's mind's eye. It also excited her as well. She wished she'd been in ECW in its heyday. But Heyman had been in charge and he thought she needed liposuction. What the hell did he know? Raven had smiled when she'd asked him that and told her that Heyman knew more than any man about wrestling, that he hoarded all his ideas deep inside of him until the time was right to tell.  
  
A sigh escaped Molly's lips as she sat on the couch, Raven's head in her lap. Her hand softly stroked his head; she liked the way his stubble felt against her fingers. He had made no noise at all since coming in from the snow, simply staring up through moonlit eyes at the scattered ceiling. It was like time had stood still for so long. Impulsively, she leant down and kissed his forehead. He blinked once and lifted a hand to trace her jaw- line as light as a whisper. He was still there, just lost in serene and pleasant thoughts. It made her smile, maybe even feel stronger. The darkness consumed her and made her who she was but alone, without him who made her whole, she wasn't complete. She'd feel like she was just floating through life and not getting very far. That was why they were brought together even though they were worlds apart and spiritually in love.  
  
She could feel his heartbeat beneath of her hands as it rested lightly on his chest. It was strange. She'd always assumed that Raven had no heartbeat, that he survived outside of such human absurdities yet here he was, half resting on her lap with a heartbeat she could feel through her fingers. She shook her head slightly, why did she think he was a corpse? He was more alive than anyone else she'd ever known before or forever. Her own family were the corpses, trying to force her to live in a body she had not created but they had created for her. It still made her shiver to think about it since it wasn't of her own doing. Prisoner in your own body.  
  
"What are you thinking?"  
  
Raven's voice reached through her soft dreams. She lowered her eyes to his face. His eyes were still closed, his heart was still beating.  
  
"I'm thinking about my family and what they did to me" her words were like mist  
  
"You think about what you've become, not what they tried to do to you"  
  
"It killed Crash"  
  
"But its not gonna kill you is it?"  
  
"No, I guess it isn't"  
  
"You guess?"  
  
Raven's eyes snapped open, revealing their mysterious moonlit grey colour before he sat up sharply and twisted so that he was sat beside her and staring at her.  
  
"You should not just guess, you should know" he replied intensely "You have more than you know inside and you are not going to let it all kill you, wither inside and die, you were made for ECW and we are all made of stronger stuff than this world knows of, you have to know it though"  
  
"I belong in the darkness" she replied, equalling his intense stare "and I'm glad I've finally found it but it's going to take some time before I am properly settled in it and get used to the fact that I'm not alone anymore"  
  
Raven took one of her hands in his and brought it to his lips. His kiss was like a breath of soft air from welcoming sandpaper lips. It meant the world as she closed her eyes to accept the rush of feelings it brought with it. Slowly, he lowered himself back down to lie on the couch.  
  
Then there was a knock at the door. Molly opened her eyes with a snap. That would have to be Chastity. Gently lifting Raven's head from her lap, she slid from beneath him to answer the door. With a few seconds to calm her skipping heartbeat, she opened it to reveal Chastity with a wide whitened smile on her face.  
  
"Evening Molly, is my jerk of a brother in?" her voice was cheerful and full  
  
Molly smiled and pointed inside. As Chastity strode in, Molly finally noticed the man behind her. He was stocky and stank of cigarettes and beer. He wore a sloppy red t-shirt and a pair of loose grey sweatpants which gave him an almost shapeless appearance. His hair was short and bleached blonde and he carried a kendo stick in one callused hand. It was the same type of callused hands that Raven possessed.  
  
"Sandman" Molly said formally "it's a pleasure to meet you" "You must be Miss Molly" his voice was blue-collar America "it sure is a pleasure, Chas has told me all about you"  
  
Molly smiled and stood back, allowing him in. She couldn't hear Raven's voice. She hoped that he and Chastity weren't locked in a silent hate- filled standoff. It would take a while to break if it was true. She turned to move back in and then saw it. Her red leaf framed and hung on the wall. It was right in front of her, a sign, an omen. Taking courage in the fall, she strode into the living area.  
  
Raven had remained lying down on the couch. Chastity sat cross-legged on the floor while Sandman had taken one of the chairs for himself. Molly quickly sat back down on the couch, settling Raven's head back in her lap. The silence, the tension was palatable.  
  
Molly didn't know who would break first. 


End file.
